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Hopewell Economics research project wins gold ribbon award

Hopewell Economics has been honored as part of a team that received a gold ribbon for a research poster presented at the Association of Managed Care Pharmacy (AMCP) in Houston. There were more than 350 entries in the poster contest. Fewer than 10 percent received an award.

Titled: Claims database analysis of health care resource utilization and associated medical costs in patients with Barth syndrome in the United States the research project examined patient demographics and costs for the extremely rare Barth Syndrome.

ACMP poster Barth Syndrome affects males who often fail to thrive as children and face numerous healthcare challenges as they age. Few make it past age 40. Because it is so rare, there has been little previous research into the disease costs and treatments.

Working from several data sources, Hopewell Economics was able to constructed a better profile of patients and the numerous challenges and their medical needs. The economics research will help researchers and physicians in better identifying Barth Syndrome patients and understanding the likely disease progression.

The research was also published in a supplement to JCMP, the Journal of Managed Care and Specialty Pharmacy.

The project was conducted along with UT Health Houston, McGovern Medical School; Barth Syndrome Foundation; Akron Children’s Hospital NeuroDevelopmental Science Center; and Hopewell Economics LLC

AMCP 2025 is anticipated to attract more than 4,000 managed care decision-makers to the George R. Brown Convention Center in Houston, TX, from March 31-April 3.

About Medicare Cost Reports

There are often two widespread, often incorrect beliefs about Medicare Cost Reports.

First is the terminology. “Medicare” cost reporting makes it sound as if it only covers Medicare patients. This is not accurate. For most of the key worksheets — there are several dozen — the data generally covers services for all patients. Only fairly late in the cost report calculations that Medicare costs are determined.

Continue reading “About Medicare Cost Reports”

About CMS Form 1450…

Many are familiar with a medical form called the UB-04. It stands for “Universal Bill 2004” and is the name of a billing form used by hospitals and other facility providers. (Physicians typically use the HCFA 1500 form which is somewhat similar.)

What some don’t realize is that Medicare gives the UB-04 its own designation as CMS Form-1450. Few call it that because it serves many different providers and payers than just CMS. Continue reading “About CMS Form 1450…”

HCFA is gone, but the form lives

The HCFA moniker is a decades-old name that is no longer used except for the HCFA-1500 form. The name comes from the Health Care Financing Administration (HCFA) which was created in 1977 to combine under one administration the oversight of the Medicare program, the federal portion of the Medicaid program, and related quality assurance activities.

In July 2001, agency known as HCFA was renamed the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services or what today is abbreviated as CMS.

Nonetheless, the HCFA-1500 form name survived the 2001 renaming exercise and is still used today for physician and non-facility bills.

How ChatGPT describes IPPS

ChatGPT is a remarkable tool, but it still has its flaws. We decided to ask it to explain Medicare’s Inpatient Prospective Payment System. Here’s some of what it told us:

The Medicare Inpatient Prospective Payment System (IPPS) is a method used by the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) in the United States to reimburse acute care hospitals for inpatient services. IPPS was established as part of the Social Security Amendments of 1983 and went into effect in 1984. The main goal of IPPS is to control rising healthcare costs by setting predetermined rates for inpatient hospital services. Here is how IPPS works… Continue reading “How ChatGPT describes IPPS”